Notebook: Inoue and Fulton near deal for spring showdown in Japan

Jake Paul-Tommy Fury make fight yet again; Haney-Loma and Benavidez-Plant dates; Broner gets new foe; 'In This Corner' appearance; Quick hits; Show and tell

Jan 19, 2023

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Japanese star Naoya Inoue, who vacated all four bantamweight world title belts on Friday to move up to junior featherweight, has no plans on wasting any time in his new division.

Inoue is poised to challenge WBC/WBO titleholder Stephen Fulton for his 122-pound belts in the spring in Japan, sources with knowledge of the negotiations told Fight Freaks Unite on Wednesday.

One source said the camps are in the process of going to contract for the bout, which would match one of the elite pound-for-pound fighters in the world in Inoue with the boxer widely considered No. 1 at junior featherweight in Fulton as “The Monster” goes hunting for a title in a fourth weight class. If the fight is finalized it would stream on ESPN+ in the United States and Amazon Prime in Inoue’s native Japan.

Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs), 29, who has also won world titles at junior bantamweight and junior flyweight, knocked out Paul Butler in the 11th round of a one-sided battering to take his WBO bantamweight title on Dec. 13 to fully unify the 118-pound division and become the first undisputed bantamweight champion of the three- or four-belt era and the first undisputed champion in the division in 50 years, since Panama’s Enrique Pinder unified the WBC and WBA belts during the two-belt era in 1972.

Going into the fight, Inoue said it would be his final bout in the division and he reiterated it afterward, and then followed through by giving up the titles.

He had his eye on Fulton and Fight Freaks Unite reported last week that the camps were in discussion for the fight. Those talks advanced quickly and they are now exchanging contracts for what will be a heavily anticipated bout, one source said.

That means Fulton’s plan to rise to the featherweight division for at least one fight to face Brandon Figueroa for the vacant WBC interim belt in a rematch of Fulton’s close and action-packed decision win in their junior featherweight unification fight in November 2021 is on hold.

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The WBC approved that bout at its annual convention in November and Showtime was making plans to air their rematch, which had been agreed to, in the main event of a Feb. 25 tripleheader. However, the lure of a much bigger and possible star-making fight with Inoue, not to mention much more money, was too much for Fulton to pass up.

Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs), 28, of Philadelphia, handily outpointed Angelo Leo to win the WBO title in January 2021, beat Figueroa 10 months later to unify two titles and then defended the belts by near-shutout decision over former unified titlist Daniel Roman this past June.

The change in direction for Fulton leaves Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KOs), 26, of Weslaco, Texas, looking at a possible interim title fight in March with former WBC featherweight titlist Mark Magsayo (24-1, 16 KOs), 27, of the Philippines, a source said.

Another Jake Paul-Tommy Fury deal

Jake Paul and Tommy Fury have once again made a deal for an eight-round cruiserweight fight that is supposed to take place on Feb. 25 in Saudi Arabia and headline a pay-per-view card.

Combat sports reporter Ariel Helwani first reported news of the deal this week. While the lead broadcaster would be BT Sports in the United Kingdom — Fury, the half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, is promoted by Frank Warren, who has a deal with BT Sports Box Office — the broadcaster in the United States likely will be ESPN PPV, a source with knowledge of those talks told Fight Freaks Unite.

Paul, a social media influencer, YouTuber and actor who made his pro boxing debut in 2020, has worked with Showtime PPV for his past three bouts (both Tyron Woodley fights and Anderson Silva in October) but he is no longer under contract to Showtime.

Paul (6-0, 4 KOs), 26, of Cleveland, and Fury (8-0, 4 KOs), 23, of England, twice before had deals in place to fight but they fell apart due to Fury’s withdrawal.

They were supposed to fight in December 2021 in Tampa, but Fury pulled out claiming a chest infection and a rib injury. He was replaced on short notice by MMA fighter Woodley, who Paul knocked out in devastating fashion in the sixth round.

The fight was rescheduled for this past Aug. 6 at New York’s Madison Square Garden but Fury again withdrew when he was not allowed to board his flight for New York for the kickoff press conference due to visa issues reportedly related to his ties to wanted mobster Daniel Kinahan. He was replaced by Hasim Rahman Jr., who also was dropped from the fight due to his weight issues and the card was canceled.

Paul has yet to face a fulltime boxer, although he has continually tried to finalize the Fury fight and also agreed to fight Rahman.

Haney-Lomachenko date

Top Rank, which has been working to finalize a fight between undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney and former unified titleholder and WBC mandatory challenger Vasiliy Lomachenko, said the date for the fight if finalized will be May 20.

There is no site yet nor has a decision been made about whether it would be on ESPN or ESPN PPV.

After three-division champion and former pound-for-pound king Lomachenko outpointed Jamaine Ortiz on Oct. 29, Haney, who was ringside, joined him in the ring and they were both interviewed on the ESPN broadcast.

Both said they wanted the fight and in November the fight was ordered at the WBC convention.

“You know what motivated me,” Lomachenko said during the joint interview. “Four belts! Four belts! I will be ready.”

Haney, standing next to his likely future foe, added, “Congratulations, and hopefully we can get it on.”

Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs), a 34-year-old southpaw, was supposed to challenge then-unified champion George Kambosos Jr. in Australia in June but when Lomachenko dropped out to remain at home in Ukraine as part of the defense of the country against Russia, Haney (29-0, 15 KOs), 24, of Las Vegas, took his place and easily outpointed Kambosos to unify all four belts. Then he beat Kambosos more easily in the October rematch.

New Broner opponent

Four-division titlist Adrien Broner will face former world title challenger Hank Lundy in a 10-round welterweight bout that tops a BLK Prime/Integrated Sports PPV card on Feb. 25 at the Gateway Center in Atlanta, BLK Prime announced.

Lundy stepped in this week when original opponent Ivan Redkach (23-6-1, 18 KOs) was forced out due to a contractual dispute with his promoter, Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing.

“I’m glad they found a worthy replacement in Hank Lundy,” Broner said. “Unfortunately, Redkach had to pull out, but I’m ready for whoever they put in front of me. This is the AB show and I’m on a mission to bust up everyone in my way. Hank Lundy is in trouble. I’m going to put a beating on him.”

Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs), 33, of Cincinnati, who recently split from PBC and signed a three-fight deal with BLK Prime, is 1-2-1 in his last four fights and has not fought since February 2021. He was scheduled to fight former lightweight titlist Omar Figueroa Jr. on Showtime on Aug. 20 but pulled out of the junior welterweight bout five days beforehand, claiming mental health issues.

Lundy (31-12-1, 14 KOs), 39, of Philadelphia, has dropped four fights in a row and six of his last eight.

In his one world title shot, Lundy challenged then-WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford and got knocked out in the fifth round.

“Fighting Broner is something I’ve envisioned for a long time and now this opportunity has presented itself to me,” Lundy said. “Everyone knows that I will fight anyone and the big names run from me. So I’m telling everyone right now, I’m going to beat the shit out of this ‘can’ man.”

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In This Corner appearance

My longtime pals James “Smitty” Smith and Lee Groves invited me to be their guest on the season premier of the third season of “In This Corner” on FITE and while we discussed some boxing current events, including Gervonta Davis’ recent fight and the forthcoming showdown with Ryan Garcia, they were interested in hearing about my background, how I came to become a boxing journalist almost 23 years ago and some of the highlights of my career. Please check out the show by clicking on the photo. I hope you enjoy!

Quick hits

Top Rank has acquired U.S. rights to two international cards that will stream on ESPN+ in March, sources with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite. One is on March 11 in Paris with heavyweight Tony Yoka (11-1, 9 KOs), 30, the 2016 French Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist, and former title challenger Carlos Takam (39-7-1, 28 KOs), 42, of France, in the main event. Yoka will look to rebound from an upset majority decision loss to Martin Bakole in May. Takam has lost two fights in a row, a decision to unbeaten Arslanbek Makhmudov in September and a sixth-round knockout to Joe Joyce. On March 23, super middleweight Christian Mbilli (23-0, 20 KOs), 27, of France, will face Carlos Gongora (21-1, 16 KOs), 33, an Ecuador native based in Boston, in the headliner of an Eye of the Tiger card in Montreal.

WBC interim super middleweight titlist David Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs), 26, of Phoenix, and former IBF titleholder Caleb Plant (22-1, 13 KOs), 30, of Las Vegas, will meet March 25 in the main event of a Showtime PPV card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, a source with knowledge of the schedule told Fight Freaks Unite, confirming a BoxingScene report. The fighters announced on Nov. 3 that they had signed to fight each other and the bout was always ticketed for March but now has a solid date. The winner will be the WBC mandatory challenger for undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez.

Boxxer has called a news conference for Monday in Manchester, England. Although the specific reason was not given — “a fight of global interest will be formally announced” is how the alert read — it is for the rematch between WBO junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall. The presser was previously postponed due to a rail strike in England. The fight will take place March 4 (ESPN+ in U.S., Sky Box Office in U.K.) at OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, the site of their first bout. Scotland’s Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs), 31, won a very controversial decision over Catterall (26-1, 13 KOs), 29, a southpaw from England, in defense of the undisputed 140-pound title last February. Stung by intense criticism, he opted to pursue the rematch rather than make mandatory defenses, which resulted in him vacating or being stripped of the other three belts.

The IBF purse bid scheduled on Tuesday for the fight between junior bantamweight titlist Fernando Martinez, of Argentina, and mandatory challenger Jade Bornea, of the Philippines, was postponed at the request of the camps because they are close to a deal. Martinez (15-0, 8 KOs), 31, won the 115-pound title from Jerwin Ancajas by wide decision last February and then beat him against by a similarly wide decision in an immediate rematch in October. Bornea (18-0, 12 KOs), 27, cemented his position with a third-round knockout of Mohammed Obbadi last January and maintained it with a seventh-round knockout of Ivan Meneses in a stay-busy fight in August.

WBA strawweight titlist Knockout CP Freshmart (24-0, 9 KOs), 32, of Thailand, and secondary titlist Erick Rosa (5-0, 1 KO), 22, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic, will meet in a long overdue mandatory bout March 1 in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand, according to the WBA. It is one of the bouts the WBA ordered in an effort to fulfill its promise to get down to one titleholder per division, a process that began in August 2021. Petchyindee Boxing Promotions won the purse bid for the bout for $140,000 in mid-December. CP Freshmart, who has held the title since 2016, has made 11 defenses and is the longest-reigning active male titleholder. Rosa, who has had all of his bouts in the Dominican, edged Vic Saludar by split decision to claim the “regular” belt in December 2021 and has not fought since.

Oscar Collazo (5-0, 3 KOs), 25, of Puerto Rico, has new opponent for his WBO strawweight title eliminator. He will face Yudel Reyes (15-1, 5 KOs), 26, of Mexico, who stepped in this week when former titlist and Collazo countryman Wilfredo Mendez (18-2, 6 KOs) suffered a back injury. They will meet on the undercard of the Alexis Rocha-Anthony “Juice” Young welterweight fight that headlines Golden Boy’s card on DAZN on Jan. 28 (8 p.m. ET) at the new YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California.

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Show and tell

After Oscar De La Hoya badly cut and stopped Julio Cesar Chavez to win the WBC junior welterweight title, he returned seven moths later to make what would be his only defense before vacating and moving up to welterweight. De La Hoya made that defense against Mexico’s Miguel Angel Gonzalez, a long-reigning lightweight titleholder, who was 41-0 at the time and considered a formidable foe. But De La Hoya, despite going into the fight with a right rotator cuff injury, pounded Gonzalez with a ram-rod jab throughout the shockingly one-sided fight. Gonzalez did not help himself by having a point deducted in the seventh round for holding and hitting and another in the 12th for hitting on the break. De La Hoya looked sensational in the fight that he dominated with his left hand, winning 117-109, 117-110 and 117-111. It was the first of a massive year for De La Hoya, who had five fights that year. The rout of Gonzalez kicked the year off on Jan. 18, 1997 — 26 years ago on Wednesday. Here is a program from the fight in my collection.

Inoue photo: Naoki Fukuda; Paul photo: Esther Lin/Showtime; Haney photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

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